Recommendations for a new used car

I am going through this right now with my wife....She wants a newer car...tired of driving her rag of a jeep and wants something she feels good riding around in and doesn't have to worry about. I get that...sometimes its not about savings, its about peace of mind.

I say, if you can afford it and it would make you feel better..then go for it...We give 40+ hours a week to the man, we should be able to enjoy something nice every now and again.

Heck, half the stuff most of us buy or do doesn't make sense financially, but whats a life without wimsy?
 
Cherokeekid88 said:
I am going through this right now with my wife....She wants a newer car...tired of driving her rag of a jeep and wants something she feels good riding around in and doesn't have to worry about. I get that...sometimes its not about savings, its about peace of mind.

I say, if you can afford it and it would make you feel better..then go for it...We give 40+ hours a week to the man, we should be able to enjoy something nice every now and again.

Heck, half the stuff most of us buy or do doesn't make sense financially, but whats a life without wimsy?
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If you spend your life buying "things" to make yourself happy or to feel good you will end up broke and sad. Guaranteed.

That said the two situations are totally different...
 
Ron said:
If you spend your life buying "things" to make yourself happy or to feel good you will end up broke and sad. Guaranteed.

That said the two situations are totally different...
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whaaaaaaaaa??? while people gauge happiness from various things, without buying 'things' we'd all be doing nothing but chopping wood and churning butter.



IMO, there's no real way to make good financial sense from a situation that involves 'buying' a vehicle.
 
Im with Cherokee here, unfortunately you have to have a car this day in age. There is no sense is driving something that you hate. The kicker here is you have to be able to afford it. Where Ron's advice comes in is those who buy what makes them happy with out the means to support it.

Ie. I would be much happier driving a f250 CC 4x4 Powerstroke but I can afford an extended cab 1/2 ton.
 
The only thing that makes good financial sense when it comes to vehicles is to drive it till the wheels fall off, then either fix it and keep going, or buy one that is 4-7 years old.

The sticker price on my 07 Tundra was $47,xxx. I bought it in September 2013 for under $20,000 out the door. In 6 years, it lost $27,000 in value? It did have 129xxx miles on it when I got it though.
 
Hurley said:
whaaaaaaaaa??? while people gauge happiness from various things, without buying 'things' we'd all be doing nothing but chopping wood and churning butter.



IMO, there's no real way to make good financial sense from a situation that involves 'buying' a vehicle.
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I guess this is where we are different.
I get happiness from my kids, watching them play. From petting my dogs. From catching a fish. From making a memory with friends.

I amnot above buying a rod and reel to catch a fish and get happy. However far too many people source their happinss from the posession of the rod and reel itself not from the memory of catching the fish.

When it comes to a vehicle Ill pick what I want to drive but then buy the cheapest model I can find. Its wy I drive a white truck and hate the way white trucks look. But really most days I dont even notice its white, it hauls my ass to my job which allows me to ake moeny to spend on doing things with my family.

Not everyone is the same, but if you what vehicle you use to transport you makes your life unhappy you need a hug from someone. Thats just my opinion
 
Honda Accord V6, my wife is able to squezze out 500 miles to a tank of gas. It has the 3.0 V6 and I get pound it from 80 to 120 in no time. Thanks to V-TEC. The insurance is super cheap as well. My three kids sit in the back perfectly ages 15, 12, and 9. I worked as a Honda Tech and these cars are very reliable and made well.
 
Tony are your youngest kids still in car seats? That make a huge difference on the whole space thing.
 
RatLabGuy said:
Tony are your youngest kids still in car seats? That make a huge difference on the whole space thing.
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2 in car seats for 11 more months.

We're thinking long term here, I realize it will take a while to break even like Eric the Falko pointed out. Another undocumented benefit of getting a $5k fuel sipper for the high mileage trips is it will keep miles off the new van. Once the fuel sipper is paid off in 5yrs, it might be run down enough to hand off to my kids to <mortal combat voice> finish him.

I might tweak some numbers in Danny's spreadsheet there. A few things I'll update... she will rarely be commuting 5 days per week and doesn't work summers...gonna be hard to get some justifiable numbers there.
 
2012 and up tdi Passat, had one on lot, I put 4500 miles on it, got 43mpg
 
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